24 Keys to Life
by Echoes of Shadows
Summary: A collection of one-shots based on the different keys of music. Second installation; Prussia about to charge into the 1st Battle of Tannenberg, based on A minor.
1. C major :ChibitaliaxHRE:

"Go on then, off you go."

"Yay! Thank you Mr. Austria!" Chibitalia spun around and shot out of the scullery in a whirl of swishing green skirts. Austria smiled wryly, brushing down his immaculate purple coat with pale tapered fingers. To be honest, it would make preparations easier without the clumsy girl around. He turned away from the door and pulled a thin piece of paper from his pocket, eyes scanning the list of words intently.

Chibitalia, meanwhile, was running through the long marbled corridors of Austria's house, giddy with excitement. He'd never expected to be given an hour of Emperor's Day off, let alone the whole afternoon. It had been so long since he'd had some time to himself; Mr. Austria always had him doing some sort of work. There was a lot to do in such a big house.

He sped around another corner, heading for his own small room, thinking about picking up his painting supplies. It was such a nice day outside – there had to be something pretty to paint today. May was such a beautiful month; there were so many flowers around as spring drew to a close, and it was warm and sunny enough to for the outside to be more than bearable. His head turned slightly, watching out the long window he was running past. The sun shone a pale gold in an azure blue sky, with only the thinnest wisps of cloud blurring its depths. The light glinted off the edge of the glass, making it sparkle with a thousand hypnotising rainbow colours. It'd be nice to try paint –

Smack!

He'd been so busy staring out of the window, he hadn't realised he should have been watching where he was going, and had slammed into someone coming the other way. Stars dancing in front of his vision, Chibitalia fell to the ground, a throbbing pain in his head.

"Ow," he murmured quietly, head clutched in his hands.

"I-italy! I'm sorry! Are you alright?" said a nervous familiar voice. Chibitalia looked up and the blue-eyed face of Holy Rome swum into focus. His heart leapt into his throat in shock. The big, strong country Holy Rome, who'd probably tell Mr. Austria, who'd punish him for not looking where he was going.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Holy Rome!" he cried, scrambling to his feet. "I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!" He covered his face with his hands and shut his eyes in fear.

There was a quiet scuffling noise. "...I won't hurt you, Italy. Uh...why are you running around? You know Austria will get mad if he sees you doing that."

Chibitalia looked up at his sort-of friend, fear quickly fading, as it usually did. He kept initially forgetting Holy Rome was really nice. His small face lit up in a cheerful smile. "Mr. Austria gave me the afternoon off, Holy Rome! I don't have to do any chores today, not until the party starts at six. Emperor's Day is so great!"

Holy Rome blinked, clearly surprised. "You've got the day off? I thought they'd need the extra help."

"Nope!" Chibitalia answered brightly, golden eyes closed happily. "Mr. Austria said that it would be easier with fewer people getting under his feet. I think that means he wants to do things himself. Emperor's Day is important to him."

"Yes." Holy Rome said quietly.

Chibitalia continued his melodic chatter. "I was thinking about going out to the river, and maybe painting something. The flowers are so pretty at this time of year, and if everyone else is getting ready for the party, it'll be really peaceful there! That's where I was going just now, Holy Rome, to get my painting supplies."

Holy Rome nodded uncertainly. The light dusting of red at the edges of his cheeks was beginning to appear again. His face always seemed to be ever-so-slightly flushed, for some reason. Chibitalia didn't know what the reason was, but it was something he'd promised himself he'd find out some day. It was kind of cute though, kind of endearing. He liked spending time with Holy Rome, but it didn't come often. Mr. Austria always had chores that needed doing, or Holy Rome was out on business. It was a shame, really.

A sudden idea sparked to life in his head. "Oh! Holy Rome! Would you like to come with me this afternoon? We never did finish that painting lesson a few weeks ago."

Holy Rome's sky blue eyes grew wide and he developed a sudden interest in the edge of his cloak, playing with its black fabric with skilled fingers. "Uh..." He seemed to be unsure, almost unable to answer.

"Oh..." Chibitalia muttered with realisation, spirits dropping slightly. "You'll have work to do, won't you? Mr. Austria'll be wanting you to help or something, won't he?" He sighed and stared at the delicate patterns on the wall. He shouldn't have hoped, really. "Oh, well. If you're busy, I guess I'll see you later." He gave Holy Rome a short wave and walked away, hiding his disappointment behind locks of auburn hair.

"Uh...I-Italy! Wait!" Chibitalia turned to see Holy Rome running back up to him, ebony cloak flying in the wake of his movement. "I...I'm not busy. Austria said he was going to handle all the preparations, as I've been away a lot recently. So...er..."

Chibitalia clapped his hands happily, once again in one of his happy-to-the-point-of-hyper moods. "You can come too? Yay! I'll go get my paint set. Oh! Or I could get some towels too and we could go swimming maybe?"

"N-no," Holy Rome stuttered, cheeks burning scarlet. "Painting is fine..." His voice faded out and Chibitalia peered at him, confused. This was unusually flustered behaviour for Holy Rome, who was usually so uptight and regal. But Chibitalia didn't want to interfere in something that wasn't his business – he'd been punished by Mr. Austria all too many times for that – so he pushed the question aside.

"Ok. I'll meet you by the river in a minute then, ok?" He gave Holy Rome another smile, and resumed his original path to his room, leaving the confused and slightly dazed empire standing by the window in disbelief.

Five minutes later, Chibitalia padded out the tall gates of Mr. Austria's house and through the trees nearby leading to the river. Sunlight shone in viridescent beams through the gaps in the trees, and birds chirped happily from the leafy branches. It was so pretty, Chibitalia thought, glad to be out on such a beautiful day.

It took little more than a minute to reach the river from Mr. Austria's house. That was the best thing about it, being so close, aside from the aura of such a stunning scene. Holy Rome was standing on the river's pebbled bank, staring into the reflective depths of the sparkling clear water. He appeared not to have noticed Chibitalia's presence; he seemed to be deep in thought. But Holy Rome did that sometimes. Chibitalia had gotten used to it, and it was, in a way, rather intriguing.

The smaller nation broke into a run, slightly lopsided from the heavy painting set in one hand.

"Holy Rome!" Chibitalia called, waving as he ran. Holy Rome jumped, clearly startled, and knocked his large hat slightly askew.

"Uh...Italy...Hello," he stuttered nervously, fingers scrabbling to readjust his hat.

"Hello~," Chibitalia replied, setting down the paintbox at his feet. It was lovely, but it did get a bit heavy to carry after a while, and he wasn't particularly strong to begin with.

Holy Rome's bright blue eyes locked with Chibitalia's soft hazel pair, and the younger nation's heart flipped briefly. Neither of them said anything for a while, just enjoying the moment. Chibitalia listened to the soft musical noises of the birds through the silence. It was an interesting sound; a bit like the tunes Mr. Austria played on the piano, yet somehow completely different. There was an unrestrained, intuitiveness to it, that could never be captured in something made by humans, or even nations. It was then that Chibitalia noticed that Holy Rome was now staring at a pebble rather awkwardly.

"Are you ok, Holy Rome?" he asked concernedly. He didn't want his friend to be unhappy. "Shall we start painting? It's so pretty today.~" Without waiting for a reply, he dropped to his knees and undid the catch on his paint set. A rainbow of colours were liberated by the motion, their bright hues shining in the sunlight.

Chibitalia looked inside the box and his face fell at the sight. "Oh no. I only have one canvas, Holy Rome. Mr. Austria won't let me have many, because they're expensive, and I forgot I used one last week. Oh dear." He stared at the folds of his dress, refusing to look Holy Rome in the eye, scared he'd inadvertently ruined their one free afternoon together.

"Oh," came Holy Rome's quiet reply. He sounded as disappointed as Chibitalia felt.

"I'm sorry, Holy Rome," Chibitalia apologised, trying not to cry.

There was a heavy silence. Chibitalia blinked back fierce tears with a lump in his throat. He was so silly, he never thought these things through, that was what Mr. Austria was always yelling at him for. Clumsy and thoughtless, that's what he was, just wasting everyone else's time needlessly.

"Hey, Italy?" Holy Rome's voice cut effortlessly through his thoughts. Chibitalia looked up, brushing the traitorous droplets out his eyes. "Why don't we paint together? You have more than one brush, don't you? We could both paint at the same time."

Spirits instantly renewed, Chibitalia leapt up and launched himself in a delighted hug at Holy Rome. "Yes! We could do that! You're so smart, Holy Rome."

"Uh...thank you, Italy," the blond nation , scarlet cheeks contrasting brilliantly with the deep black of his cloak and hat.

"Here," Chibitalia smiled, handing Holy Rome one of the paintbrushes as if there had been no problem at all. "You remember what I taught you last time, right? Let's paint the bit across the river, over there, where the edelweiss and gentians are, and the little grassy rockery, ok? Flowers are so pretty!~" Holy Rome nodded, smiling, and watched as Chibitalia quickly sketched out the outline of the scene, before taking his own paintbrush and joining in.

The two sat painting on the pebbles as the sun dawdled its way across the sky. Chibitalia chattered happily about anything and everything as the scene of the river gradually came to life on the canvas. Bright flowers intermingled with the light shadows cast by the leaves, all set off by the sparkling clarity of the gently flowing water. Holy Rome was happy just to sit there and listen and paint, marvelling once again at the auburn-haired nation's artistic skill. He wouldn't have exchanged this afternoon for anything in the world.

"Ok," Chibitalia said after a short silence focused on the inner detail of a gentian's leaf. "Holy Rome, you've got the blue, haven't you? If you paint this last flower, we're finished, I think. It should just need the two tones you've got."

Holy Rome nodded, trying not to crack under the pressure of not wrecking the final stage of such a beautiful picture. It was like a dream; every part of it captured the small landscape perfectly, without a single marring feature. Carefully thinking and defining every motion, he dipped the paintbrush in first the dark blue, then the lighter cerulean, and delicately coloured the last flower. "There. Finished." He looked up at Chibitalia nervously, and his heart cracked to notice disappointment on the younger nation's face. "Did...I messed it up, didn't I?" he croaked. He felt so ashamed he'd let his friend down.

Chibitalia frowned slightly at the picture. "No, it's not that. There's something missing here, Holy Rome. Ah, I know!" He flitted across to the paintbox, drawing out a thin black pencil. And in small, flowing letters, he wrote _Emperor's Day at the river. By Holy Rome and Italy _in the bottom corner of the picture.

Out of the corner of his eye Chibitalia noticed a small smile on the other nation's nervous face. It was a barely noticeable expression, but it warmed Chibitalia's heart and he was glad he was able to make his friend happy.

Holy Rome coughed nervously, glancing at the clear blue sky. "Er, not that I want to end this afternoon, but judging from the sun, it's getting pretty close to evening now. Austria will want us back soon, in time for the party to start."

Chibitalia looked at the blond nation in disappointment. Time had flown by so fast today – he hadn't had so much fun in ages. He really cherished these occasional times he spent with Holy Rome.

"Ve.~ Ok, Holy Rome. Let's go." He turned and began putting the paintbrushes and colours back in their wooden box. The easel quickly gathered up from a tall framework into a small fold of wooden struts, which fitted on a clasp on the edge of the paintbox. Chibitalia had always been glad of its ease to carry and put away.

Paints packed up, the two young nations turned to return to Austria's house. As they walked through the tall trees, feet brushing softly against the thin grassy floor, Chibitalia glanced briefly at their picture, then at Holy Rome. "You know, Holy Rome, today was a lot of fun. Maybe we can come out and paint again, next time I get a day off."

That small smile returned to Holy Rome's face. "Yes. I'd like that."

* * *

><p>Hehe~ It's so fluffy. Seriously, this is my first published 'happy story'. Also my first time writing Chibitalia and Holy Rome. They're so fun to write~.<p>

Inspiration: Mozart Sonata in C major, 3rd Movement, Chopin Prelude No 1 in C.


	2. A minor :Prussia:

Despite it being nearly noon on a summer day, the sky was almost black, its depths swollen with inky-grey clouds and the sun long since hidden. Rain lashed down in unforgiving waves onto the hordes of men lined across the field. One side, spread across the plain, were dressed in plain colours and armour, save for two figures at the front by the flag-bearers, clad in green and red and white.

The other army, in flowing cloaks of black and white, was stood halfway up a large hill, faces grim and determined. A lone young man sat atop a proud white horse, white cloak whipping in the wind. Rain droplets raced down his nose, ignored by the fierce expression the face directed at his opponents. It was committed, irate, perhaps even disturbing, enhanced by the wild blood-red eyes shining in what little light there was.

He thought as he surveyed the mass before him. _Are they really going to stand here and fight?They don't realise that this battle will be their end. The Teutonic Knights are Europe's power. We're gaining strength, and are virtually undefeated. You are my next conquests, Poland-Lithuania. History will remember you as those which I, the mighty Prussia, defeated on this day at Grunwald. _

"Sir?" a voice interrupted. Prussia turned his head. It was his captain, Grandmaster Jungingen, an impressive figure sporting a large moustache, mounted on a black stallion. The white-feathered plume on his helmet was looking somewhat bedraggled by the incessant rain, but he was looking no less determined. "Prepare yourself. We move in five."

"'Bout time," Prussia growled. "Any news?"

The commander shook his head. "They haven't moved any additional troops up, but it's still as before; we're outnumbered. They could have up to twice the men we have, it's hard to tell in this blasted weather."

"We may be outnumbered, but they're _outclassed_," Prussia countered.

"Maybe so. We cannot rule anything out. But you are, in essence, correct. We have put up with Poland-Lithuania for far too long. It is time to end this, and it is through battle that the Knights have done this, and will continue to do. Decisive action is our way, and their undoing." The leader spoke with pride, as he had been doing throughout the morning while addressing the troops, and Prussia felt his heart swell at the words.

"Yeah. Let's go kick ass," he replied with a grin.

Jungingen gave a definitive nod. "Precisely. We'll vanquish these pagan scum once and for all, and claim the land which is rightfully ours. To battle we go! Fight well, _Preußen_, as I know you shall." He turned away and kicked his horse into gear. "Sound the horns! Move out!"

Prussia didn't bother watching him go, instead fixing his eyes once more on his enemy. There, just visible through the rain, were two mounted figures, slightly younger than himself. Barely more than boys. One sported a large purple hat, the other a mop of long brown hair drawn back in a ponytail and a grimly determined expression.

_What happens now? _Prussia wondered. _We charge, we fight, I win. But what happens if that doesn't happen? What then? The Teutonics are powerful but, what happens if, by some fluke, we do lose? Will you take me prisoner? Will you torture me? Will you kill me? We are outnumbered, after all, and this weather is more of a hindrance than a help. Would you be able to take advantage of that? Do you have some devious tactic up your pagan sleeves? Regardless of opinion, I do think sometimes, I calculate, I gather information, I gauge, and then I fight based on clear military tactics and the observed weaknesses of my opponents. And I know you have been growing in power as well as I. Is there a chance that I have misjudged you two? Could defeat really be a possibility? _

He shook himself. Wrong battle mindset completely. _No. I am of the Teutonic Order. I invented the word 'awesome'. So bring it on, Poland-Lithuania. Let's see how well you two truly work as a duo. _

Horns rang out, bright and clear through the storm, and, yelling as one, the army poured down the hill, Prussia at their head.

* * *

><p>I didn't think I'd update again before Christmas, but I seem to have loads of free time at the moment and I'm addicted to writing at the moment. So I continued this. As a note, since these are based on musical keys, generally the minors are going to be darker and the majors more fluffy. Generally. There will most likely be exceptions.<br>Basically this is a short of before the 1st Battle of Tannenberg, Prussia-style. This was a decisive win for Poland-Lithuania, and most of the Teutonic army were captured or killed. Poor Prussia. It was originally going to be about the formation of the German Empire, but that one grew a bit much and I decided to turn it into a fic by its own rights. Watch this space.  
>Inspiration: Prelude #2 in A minor (Chopin), Fugue in A Minor, BWV 543 (J S Bach).<p> 


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